Reconciliation Policy in the Czech Republic and the EU: From Neglect to Rejection

Abstract

In this paper we focus on the role of Europe in developing reconciliation policies in the Czech Republic from 1989 until 2009, with emphasis on the period before and after EU accession. We analyse the development of reconciliation policies like caring services, maternity and parental leave, and support for flexible working regimes, with a particular focus on the EU's influence. Finally, we discuss how the Czech case appears in relation to the ‘world of compliance’ with the EU. We argue that compliance with the EU has been rather weak: politicians and policy makers have preferred to continue in the pattern of re-familialism established mainly during the first transformation period (‘World of Domestic Politics’). When confronted with the increasing pressure of the ‘softness’ of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), Czech decision-makers have turned their backs on them (‘World of Rejection’). They have used Europe as a cognitive resource and rarely as a legitimating resource and have been very selective in searching for policies compatible with their preferences. Our study confirms the relevance of the misfit hypothesis, while the ‘joining the club effect’ has brought no more than formal adoption of soft legislation.